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Yet Another Degrading DVD
Aire Libre writes "Efforts to eliminate price competition from cheap DVD rentals and used DVD sales appear to be speeding up. Flexplay Technology's EZ-D self-destructing DVD, which goes dark in a lagardly 48 hours, has been surpassed by a French DVD-D that goes dark in a speedy eight hours. Because neither technology has anything to do with piracy, they both appear marketed at movie studios that might wish to drive up the price of DVD rentals. Presumably, once throw-away DVDs catch on, the studios can for the first time prevent price competition between rental and sales of DVDs by charging more for a regular DVD (rentable and re-saleable) and having the retail sales copies disappear 8 hours after opening so that no one can re-sell them, lend them, rent them or give them to charity. This will also suppress competition from rentals and used copies against currently uncompetitive online movie downloads."
How can we watch 9 & 1/2 weeks?
So warezing movies just got another thing going for it: not only is it cheap, it's enviroment friendly as well :)
These disks should not be used for backing up valuable data
That man tried to kill mah Daddy
So if you can only watch it for 8 hours, what's the point? What is the incentive for people to buy it when they could watch it once in a cinema (for example) with a much better screen size and audio system, rather than on their TV screen at home? DVD lending will always be around, they can't do much about that, but if they want to cut down on piracy they should try making the DVDs copy protected.
Due to lack of disk space this user has been discontinued
The Mission Impossible movies are going to have to think of a new way to transmit mission information. Once this technology becomes completely mainstream, the whole "this tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds" won't be so hip and cool, and you'll hear moms in the theater saying "Just like our Little Mermaid discs at home".
Anyone have any ideas for Mission Impossible to stay ahead of the game?
They should make them a bit more exciting. When you have finished watching the DVD it should display "This DVD will self-destruct in ten, nine, eight..." so you have to quickly take it out of the player and throw it out of the window just before it explodes. Would make watching DVDs much more fun, and would stop you falling asleep during movies.
It's not hard to get people to recycle these they just need to give money back for returns. Like the used to do with pop bottles.
And then we could penalize people if they didn't return them within a certain time limit - possibly with some kind of fine or something.
We've already got this, it's called cleveland.
Hour 0: DVD Purchased. Child or sibling opens it while you are not looking. ...
Hour 5: Reinstall finish. Hunt for DVD burning/decrypt^H^H^H^H^H^H backup software begins.
Hour 6: DVDXCopy found and installed, read phase begins. You realize that you burned your last blank DVD last night.
Hour 7: You return from Staples with a rediculously priced 5pack. Burning begins.
Hour 8: You finish just in time to watch the light show on the back of this 'novel' disc. Perhaps a 48-hour version would be less stressful in the future.
Hour 1: You realize the package was opened, but do not know when. Hour 2: You finally get home, only to realize that your Windows machine is DOA and needs a reinstall.
Wait a few years, then a clever guy has the idea to sell DVD's without movie
I'll make money that goes blank in 8 hours, and buy them with that
Yep, and this will also give the name to the next video format that's going to be used extensively for video piracy (remember DivX anyone?)
Actually I'm surprised, no-one has mentioned Circuit City's DivX, which was essentially the same, and went nowhere (maybe they should have learned?)...
It will just include an nice EULA then that will tell you to fuck off and go to hell if you have any complaints.
Also, this EULA will be printed on the inside of the case.
Hate me!
This is not always the case. I remember the story of paper manufacturing that the real cost of making recycled paper is actually worse for the enviroment than using virgin fibres. The public wants recycled paper, so that is what they get.
Exactly right. People have the idea that paper is made with the pulp of virgin rainforest. Almost all paper is made from crop trees which are locking down carbon dioxide.
The final irony is whales and the rainforest, which people feel are somehow 'good'. People think the rainforest generates most of the oxygen in the air, but rainforests only produce something like 5% of it; most oxygen comes from algae in the sea. Who's eating the algae? That's right, the whales.
So the upshot is that if you want to make a real contribution to the environment you would be campaigning to cut down the rainforest to make harpoons to kill the whales with.
"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true." - Homer Simpson
why sell something once that lasts, when you could sell lots that break down?
I have a buddy that works at Ford and that's the mantra they chant every morning before their shifts start.
:)
I'm not a nerd. Nerds are smart.
In a Spinal Tap interview on NPR, back when CDs came in elongated cardboard boxes, Nigel said that they'd had the manufacturer put the CD in an extra long box just so there was that much extra cardboard for recycling...
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Puts new meaning in their advertisements: "Own it today (only)".
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?